Global Poverty

As a result of widening global inequality, the cost of averting death is much lower in low-income countries, making this a promising cause area. For instance, GiveWell estimates the cost per child life saved through a bed-net distribution funded by the Against Malaria Foundation at about $3,500 (Give Well 2016). By contrast, the British National Health Service considers it cost-effective to spend $25,000-£37,000 for a year of healthy life saved (Rigby 2014). This means that donations to charities that work on global poverty and global health can be very cost-effective. Global inequality also affects the impact of cash transfers: given the extent of global inequality, a dollar is worth 66 times as much to a person living in extreme poverty as to the average American (Weyl 2014).